The US backs waiving vaccine patents
May 6, 2021
US President Joe Biden’s administration said Wednesday it would support the easing of patent rules on Covid-19 vaccines, potentially expanding global supplies, as a devastating wave envelops India and calls grow louder for rich countries to narrow the gap with the developing world.
Biden had promised to support such waivers as a candidate ahead of his election, but had for months agreed to keep them in place, under pressure from pharmaceutical companies, Kevin Liptak writes.
His government relented to pressure Wednesday as members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) discussed a proposal by India and South Africa from last October to waive patents for both Covid-19 vaccines and treatments. No decision was made but America’s backing could turn the tide on a WTO decision.
“ The Administration believes strongly in intellectual property protections, but in service of ending this pandemic, supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines,” US Trade Representative Katherine Tai wrote in a statement.
Some experts say that even with patents waived, much of the developing world doesn’t necessarily have the means to produce vaccines at the scale needed. There is an urgent need to simply share more of the rich world’s vaccines and to transfer technology to help poorer countries manufacture shots further down the line.
While the United States powers ahead with its vaccination program — 32% of its population is now fully inoculated — many poorer nations are struggling to obtain vaccine doses for their elderly and most vulnerable through purchase agreements or COVAX, a global vaccine-sharing initiative, Laura Smith-Spark writes.
India, on the other hand, has fully vaccinated just over 2% of its population, or around 30 million people. It has administered more than 160 million Covid-19 vaccine doses since mid-January but doses are now in short supply for its nearly 1.4 billion people.
India has become the new epicenter of the pandemic, smashing daily records for infection numbers and deaths regularly. CNN’s Clarissa Ward witnessed the devastating impact on health care systems in India on the brink of collapse. Relatives are trying to resuscitate their loved ones in hospitals where overstretched doctors simply can’t give everyone the attention — or the oxygen and ventilators — that they need.
Source: CNN
